The Dance
by Whisper from the Shadows
Summary: Have you ever wondered whether artificial life has a soul? Listen as Kim writes a letter to her "first love". My entry for MrDrP's Inaugural Kim Possible Valentine's Daypalooza. Warning, this is a bit... unusual.


A/N: First and foremost, I have to thank my Beta, NoobFish, for being the most comprehensive Beta I've ever used (and for preventing me from butchering the verb tenses of my native language).

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

Have you ever wondered whether artificial life has a soul? Listen as Kim writes a letter to her "first love". This is a bit of a Sci**-**Fi look at Syntho-drones, but more of a look at losing a "first love" and the special place they seem to hold in our hearts, no matter how horrible they were.

* * *

A lone redhead was sitting on the stone bench staring at the memorial. It was an odd occasion to see anyone here today; the date on the plaque was still a month off. The monument stood in memory of those that lost their lives in the attempted takeover of the world by a mad scientist's schemes. It was a bleak day in the history of humanity, when the world was all at once assaulted by giant robots that that had masqueraded as children's toys and innocuously distributed over the world. There was much pain and suffering that day, and one which many would wish were erased from their memories and annals of history. Yet, the memorial stood here today as a stark reminder of the fragile nature of human-life. But, just as odd as it was for the memorial to receive visitors on a normal day, the redhead found it stranger still, as her emerald eyes glossed over with a compilation of emotions, that she had owed much to that blue, evil genius. 

It took a few years, before his true genius came to light. It wasn't any of his doomsday devices or super fertilizers that caught the eye of those that grudgingly admitted him as their colleague, it was one of his older inventions, the syntho-drones. Without realizing it, Drew Lipsky had created true artificial life, sentient creatures made from scratch. With an even more surprising move by the governments of the world, they were given status and rights as people within a year of the discovery. This revelation shook many people to their foundations, but none as much as Kimberly Possible at the time.

The young woman stood and placed an envelope on one of the many open spots and stared at the pale paper remembering exactly what she had wrote.

_Eric,_

_You should know, you were everything I was looking for in a guy at the time. You were kind, suave, funny, and owned a very nice ride and I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but you were a golden hottie. For a while there, you were everything I wanted, and I could not have asked for a better man. But I was young and naïve, I did not know that you, the real you, would betray me and break my heart._

_And yet, despite all the things you did to me, I'm thankful I didn't know you weren't going to be there for me when I needed you to be. I'm glad I didn't know you would turn out to be a backstabbing worthless bag of slime. I could have avoided getting my heart ripped out, the pain and confusion you caused me, but I would also have missed my dance._

_The beginning of the night turned out better than I could have imagined,you showed up at my doorstep on time like a true gentleman, you smiled graciously as I walked down those steps and you gallantly escorted me to the dance as though I was the most precious thing alive). I felt like I was walking on a cloud when you held onto me, I felt, at that moment, I could take on the world with you by my side. If I'd have known you were trying to do just that, I would never have touched you and changed the way the night ended._

_You hurt me, and yet I really liked you. I'm not even sure how it is possible, but I do miss your company, just a little. The long detours on your bike on the way to our destination, being able to hold you close... I must be crazy, but I miss those carefree moments, where it's just you and me. And despite betrayal in my heart I had to write this to say thanks, thanks for taking me to the dance, thank you for breaking my heart, thank you for turning your back on me. If you walked through the door right now, I'd beat you to a green pulp on the ground, you broke my heart, and I hate you for it... And the reason I hate you so much is because you meant so much to me._

_For a while, after the whole incident, I kept telling myself that I was lying to myself about how I felt about you the whole time. I mean, how could I feel that way about something that wasn't __real. Then I found out you had a choice, that you __were real, that you hurt me on your own free will. It's ironic, even though you're dead, you still managed to hurt me one last time. I was devastated, what was it about me that made you hate me so much to do something like that? You were a scumbag and I couldn't believe how much I cared about what you thought of me. It took Ron forcing me to face myself before I'd admit to myself that you meant so much to me, and it almost tore __us apart in the process. Even after all you did, I couldn't help but feel there had to be some truth to our relationship, some shred of hope. Fortunately, I had someone watching my back like he always has since I was in Pre-K, and now we're stronger than ever thanks, in part, to you._

_I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it hurt, but without you I wouldn't have made it to my dance that night. That dance was the most important night of my life, and I owe it all to you. I would have skipped the dance, and been bent on stopping your creator if it wasn't for you. I would have missed the opportunity to see the diamond in the rough if it wasn't for you. And most of all, I would not have today, if it wasn't for you._

_Happy Valentine's Day,_

_Kimberly Anne Stoppable_

A car door is heard shutting behind her, drawing her out of her reverie. She turned to see the man that owned her heart and soul leaning against the hood of their Sloth 3.0 and allowed a smile to cross her face as she walked towards the blond. That little smile is enough to let him know she's okay, and let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding in; without hesitation he walked around and opened the door for her as she approaches.

"I love you." The words slipped from both of their lips, causing their smiles to spread before the car cruised away.


End file.
